R|Elan™, the next-generation fabric brand from Reliance Industries Limited, will join forces with contemporary Indian fashion label HUEMN for a runway showcase at Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI on 16 October 2026 at Taj Palace, New Delhi. Marking the second collaboration between R|Elan™ and HUEMN at the platform, the showcase will bring together advanced textile innovation, traditional craftsmanship and HUEMN’s provocative design language to explore a new expression of elevated athleisure. The presentation will also mark an important milestone for R|Elan™ as it enters its eighth year and unveils a renewed brand identity reflecting its continued evolution across fashion, performance and sustainability.
At the heart of the collection is beauty and terror, a recurring duality within HUEMN’s design philosophy. Known for drawing from the social, political and cultural landscapes of the times, the label has consistently used fashion to challenge the normative through unexpected contrasts, provocative imagery and disruptive design. This season, that language takes shape through archival craft techniques, original prints, experimental surfaces and contemporary sportswear silhouettes, brought to life using R|Elan™’s performance-led textiles.
The collaboration also reflects HUEMN’s evolution over its 14-year design journey, taking the codes of athleisure beyond conventional sportswear and into a space where performance, craftsmanship and high fashion intersect.
For R|Elan™, the showcase becomes a canvas for the breadth of its textile innovation. The collection incorporates technologies including Kooltex, GreenGold, Cotluk, EcoTherm, AllClima, EcoGold and AirTherm, bringing different dimensions of breathability, comfort, adaptability, thermal functionality and responsible material innovation into HUEMN’s design vocabulary.
Rather than treating these technologies as an invisible layer within the garments, the collection allows material and performance to actively inform their construction, movement and expression.
One of the collection’s key pieces sees R|Elan EcoGold transformed into an oxblood denim jacket featuring intricate Chikankari embroidery, bringing a traditional Indian craft technique into dialogue with contemporary construction. Elsewhere, HUEMN introduces an original snakeskin print, extending the collection’s exploration of texture and visual contradiction.
Silhouette takes a more experimental turn through R|Elan Kooltex, including a distinctly draped garment referred to within the HUEMN studio as the “mummy top.” Inspired by the wrapped and layered visual form of Egyptian mummies, the piece translates an unexpected reference into a contemporary silhouette. Kooltex also features in a hand-illustrated dusty-print jacket, bringing HUEMN’s graphic language together with the fabric’s performance characteristics.
Functionality finds another expression through cargo pants developed using R|Elan EvaSoft, a next-generation fibre engineered to offer a soft touch, enhanced moisture management and superior wet strength – extending the collection’s proposition of clothing designed for both performance and everyday wear.
Mr. Hemant D. Sharma, President – Polyester, Reliance Industries Limited, commented, “This showcase marks a defining moment for R|Elan. As we enter our eighth year, we are unveiling a renewed brand identity that captures who we have become – a brand that never stands still. We chose Lakmē Fashion Week for this reveal because the true measure of textile innovation is how it comes alive in design. Our collaboration with HUEMN brings seven of our fabric technologies into a single design language, uniting performance, sustainability and craft, and reflecting our ambition to create better, smarter and more purposeful textiles.”
The runway will also provide the setting for the public unveiling of R|Elan™’s renewed brand identity. Building on eight years of textile innovation, the refreshed identity represents the brand’s evolution and its ambition to continue developing smarter, more purposeful material solutions. By revealing it through its collaboration with HUEMN, R|Elan™ places textile technology directly within the creative process — demonstrating how material innovation can influence not only the functionality of fashion, but also its aesthetic possibilities.
Pranav Kirti, Co-founder & Creative Director, HUEMN, said, “For over a decade, our design journey has been an unapologetic exploration of contrasts, where the rawness of destruction meets the elegance of creation. Partnering with R|Elan allows us to elevate this narrative. By spotlighting our thought-provoking prints and a heritage technique, like Chikankari, in cutting-edge, eco-conscious fabrics like Eco Gold and EvaSoft, we are engineering a resilient, elevated uniform for modern living. This approach seamlessly marries traditional craftsmanship with advanced material science, taking athleisure out of the ordinary and firmly planting it in the realm of high fashion.”
Speaking on the collaboration, Jaspreet Chandok, Group Vice President, Reliance Brands Limited, said, “Lakmē Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI continues to be a space where design, craft and innovation come together to shape new possibilities for Indian fashion. The R|Elan™ × HUEMN collaboration reflects this spirit by bringing advanced textile technologies into conversation with HUEMN’s distinctive approach to contemporary design and craftsmanship. As R|Elan™ enters its eighth year and unveils a new brand identity, the showcase also marks an important moment in its journey, demonstrating how material innovation can find meaningful expression through fashion. We look forward to seeing this collaboration come alive on the runway this season.”
Ultimately, the R|Elan™ × HUEMN collaboration proposes an approach to athleisure where performance does not sit separately from fashion. Technology, craft, comfort and visual expression coexist within the same design language, allowing the everyday uniform to take on a more considered and elevated form.
